A Bride and A Family

For the last while I have been asking myself what role or responsibility the church (the Family) has in helping people to grow in their spiritual maturity.  Do we see it as a place we just choose to attend or is it a place we need?

Do we see church as an institution or as a Family? If it's an institution then we will place it right alongside all the other things that are clamoring for our time, our money and our commitment.  But if we see it as a Family, then it becomes something entirely different.

We need family.  God calls us His family--do you know that?  His desire for us is to be part of something that will help us to grow in healthy and strong ways and I'm not convinced that we can do that "part-time" or without committment.

But every single time we talk about committing to a church, giving of our time, regular attendance or anything like that, it always sounds legalistic--like we are talking about rules and regulations that must be obeyed.  And to be really honest, it just sounds wrong.  It doesn't sound like a place for family.  It doesn't sound like a place for freedom and life----it sounds like an institution.

I have to stop and consider a radical alternative:  if God really sees the church as a family (and He does!) then what does that really mean?

Let's consider something new:  what would it be like to imagine all the questions about church involvement through the lens of "other" first?  Here is an example:  Imagine yourself sunday morning wondering if you should go to church today.  You are really stressed from work, you really need a break--some down time, and church just seems like another thing you have to do that requires more of your time (church as institution).  But then a different thought goes through your mind.  You begin to wonder that if you don't go to church then you are robbing someone else of your presence!  You not being there could actually hinder their growth, their spiritual health, their joy.

We do understand this principle when we think about a relationship between a husband and a wife:  if the husband refuses to spend time with his wife he is robbing both of them of joy and a healthy life.  Is there something in this we can use to understand what it means to be in the church family too?

Rev. 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."

Jesus loves His Bride (a "family" term).  One of His greatest joys is to express His love and care through the Family He died for.  The Bride is a group of relatives who have been brought together for the purposes of life.  This is where the world is to see what love really looks like; this is where the broken are to find protection; this is where the wanderer finds a home; this is where the rebel finds correction; this is where discipline is learned; this is the canvas we have been given to paint love and life onto other people; this is family in the deepest sense.  And family must be together in order to be family.


My prayer for you today is that God would shine forth His heart and desire for you--that He would imprint an indelible image on your soul of the incredible value of what He has allowed you to be a part of--His Family.